8/6/2019 Classroom TUTorial Kingship

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classroom tutorial

Around 3000 bc, Egypt was unifed under one king. From its very beginningthe concept o kingship outlined a number o roles and responsibilitiesor the all-powerul ruler. He protected Egypt rom oreign invasion and

internal uprising; he controlled a large and extensive government bureaucracy; butfrst and oremost the king served as an intermediary between the people o ancienEgypt and their gods. Considered semi-divine, the king played an essential rolein the continuation o the cosmos, and participated in ceremonies and rituals toappease the deities.

As bearer o a divine ofce, celestial power was embodied in the king, settinghim apart rom ordinary human beings. Mythically, the living king was a humanmaniestation o the god Horus, and the son o the deities Isis and Osiris. As such,the king battled Seth, his uncle and the brother o Osiris, or control o the throneThe Egyptians envisioned this mythical competition as a metaphor or the strugglebetween order and chaos. This Horus/Osiris myth also served as the prototypeor ideal accession to the throne—rom ather to son, rom Osiris to Horus.While living the king was associated with Horus. At his death, he became the godo the Underworld, Osiris.

Because o the king’s special semi-divine role, he had to perorm certain tasks orthe gods in order to keep them content. I the gods were appeased, then the worldwould continue unctioning. One o these tasks was to maintain order by deendinEgypt against oreign invaders. In Egyptian art, the king is oten depicted smitingthe enemies o Egypt, symbolizing his power over them.

The image o a king ritualistically bashing the head o a oreigner was a powerulsymbol rom the beginning o Egyptian history, seen frst in the amous NarmerPalette. The king holds a weapon in his raised right hand and a submissive,kneeling enemy o Egypt by the hair in his let. The smiting scene remained a potenvisual image throughout Egyptian history. A Middle Kingdom example o KingAmenemhat iii smiting enemies is eatured in Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs on the pectoral o Mereret (see the Pectoral of Mereret  pdf or Power Point or an in depth exploration o this piece).

left 

Osiris, the god of

the underworldright

Narmer Palette.

This relief carving

dates to around

3200 BC and is

on display in the

Cairo Museum.

far  right

Pectoral of Mereret

Kingshipin Ancient

Egypt

8/6/2019 Classroom TUTorial Kingship

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carlos.emory.edu classroom tutorials Kingship inAncient Egypt

Another o the king’s duties was to maoerings to the gods. Tutankhamun:The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs eatures a number o imageso kings making such oerings. One othese is a statue o Ramesses ii oering

a naos, or shrine. This depiction showsthe king in a subservient pose with hisarms outstretched, holding a git or thgods. Though the kneeling gesture o the king is seemingly one o humility,the hieroglyphic inscription on the statreveals a less humble side o RamessesThe text states that three cult statuesare being oered. Ramesses ii includeshimsel along side the gods Amun-Reand Re-Horakhty!

A ew rituals existed that afrmed the

king’s role as ruler on earth. One o these was the ritual o accession to thethrone. In a relie rom the exhibition,Horemheb, an advisor to Tutankhamuwho became pharaoh ater the youngking’s death, is shown wearing the BluCrown, which was oten used in corontions. While this representation o theking oering water and incense to thesolar god Khepri is incomplete, enoughsurvives to explain the scene. Notice thalcon Horus hovering above the king.Horus holds the shen, a symbol o 

eternity, in his talons. The hieroglyphictext under the image o the king tells uthat the god Khepri grants Horemheb

“the lietime o Re and the kingship o Horus in joy,” a likely reerence to hiscoronation ceremony.

Another kingship ritual was called theheb sed . This ceremony was associatedwith a renewal o “royal potency and areafrmation o the king’s divine desceand legitimacy.” The heb sed was ajubilee celebrated ater 30 years o rule

o the same king, and was subsequentlcelebrated every two years. The activitincluded the king showcasing his athleprowess by driving cattle and by runniaround a series o markers that symboized the established world. Associatedwith this ritual is the heb sed cloak seehere in the depiction o Sobekhotep vi

rom the exhibition.

top  left 

Ramesses II

offering a naos.

left 

Relief ofHoremheb

above 

Sobekhotep VI